Launch

Posted on Tue Sep 20, 2016 @ 5:20pm by Captain Madelina Weisz & Commodore Michael Aravan & Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes & Lieutenant Akash Misra & Lieutenant Dalton McNamara & Dasha Washburn

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD 2 || 0900 Hours

Captain Michael Aravan stood at the end of the ridiculously long center island in the middle of the Triumphant bridge and looked at the assembled personnel who had the Alpha Shift. Senior officers all and each seasoned in his or her own way. While they were a new crew, they had served individually on other ships and now they were here, on his ship. He had taken the time to get to know them the night before informally and had met some of them formally, but now was the time to get to know them professionally. He glanced over at his Executive Officer and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you have anything to say before we launch, Commander?" he asked her.

Maddy stood next to the Captain with her hands clasped behind her back, her blue eyed gaze falling over each and every member of the bridge crew as they prepared for their second launch. Her gaze lingered on Barnes a moment longer than anyone else as a smile formed on her lips, but she continued on as to not draw anyone's attention but his.

Perhaps, a pep talk was in order considering they were going to be going into their first mission blind. It had to set the nerves of the majority of the crew on edge, and it was up to Command to try to ease those nerves by being the voice of reassurance... even if they weren't certain things would go in their favor.

"As a matter of fact, Captain, I do," she said. "I realize that many of you might be feeling a bit unsure about our current mission, and I want you all to know that under current circumstances, that is perfectly understandable. We're going into a potentially dangerous situation completely blind, but as each of you were hand-picked by High Command to serve aboard this ship, I have nothing but the utmost confidence that you will each do your parts to see to it that we come out of this unscathed. This is not a test, ladies and gentlemen. This is the real deal. Let's show Starfleet why the Triumphant is the best ship in the galaxy."

Tom had looked up from his Operations console as the Executive Officer gave her speech. While he noted the lingering gaze and curled lips, his uniform kept him in line. He'd heard many a speech over the course of his career, and even had to give a few himself. He smiled back at the XO, nodding his understanding. "Aye, aye!" He declared.

"All stations report," Michael said.

"Medical reports ready," the voice of the holographic doctor came over the internal ship comm.

"Science is ready, Captain," the Acting Chief of Science, Lieutenant McNamara said.

"All systems are go for Flight, Sir," the Chief of Flight reported.

"Operations reports green for launch, Captain," Tom reported after a quick double check of his console.

Lukiz walked onto the bridge of the Triumphant and activated an aft Engineering station. He quickly reviewed the status of the ships systems and turned to report to the Captain. "All ships systems are functioning within normal parameters. We have all speeds available through warp and slipstream."

Martha was at the Tactical post. She was happy with how the Triumphant's tactical systems were performing and was satisfied they were performing to their desired levels. Martha had ideas to improve their efficiency - but for now they were working - so that was enough to make her happy.

"Tactical's ready to go" Martha replied.

As the Tactical officer spoke, James entered the bridge. "Captain, Marine department is standing ready. With your permission, I'd like to be on the bridge for a guard shift." He said.

"Granted, Colonel," Michael said. "Find a seat." He nodded to an empty one by the rear of the bridge near the transporters. He looked at Lieutenant Mallory. "Lieutenant?"

Douglas had heard many speeches over his long careers, some of them better than others. Weisz's speech was good, and had apparently had the desired effect as he observed some of the bridge staff relax just a hair. His dark eyes flicked down to his Security console for just a moment to ensure that nothing had changed then back up to the Captain. "Security reports ready, Sir." he reported crisply.

His eyes flicked to Racktor then back to his board. So far, their teams were functioning well together. He hoped that the situation ahead would not create friction; that could be dangerous. But he had faith in his people and his Second.

"Take us out slow and steady, Mister Misra," Michael ordered.

"Aye, Sir," Misra said as he requested and received permission to depart from Utopia Planitia. He eased the massive Odyssey class vessel away from the station using the RCS thrusters until they were at forty-five degree angle and then increased speed to one quarter impulse until they were five hundred thousand kilometers out. "We're at required distance, Captain."

"Set course for the Orion Sector," Michael said. "Warp Eight. Estimated time of arrival?"

"Warp Eight, aye." Misra set the course and engaged. "Estimated time to the Orion Sector is four hours and fifteen minutes, Sir."

Michael looked around the bridge at the steady, capable officers and headed back to his seat where he looked over at Commander Weisz. "A good start despite lack of information. You have the bridge, Commander. I'll be in my ready room." With that, he turned and headed to the large room where he hoped he would have a waiting signal from the Victorious.

"Yes, Captain," Maddy said, turning to make her way toward the center chair. As she settled down, she found herself wondering what kind of trap she and the Triumphant crew were going to encounter. While she may have offered a pep talk to the others on the bridge, it did nothing to reassure her, or the bad feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't wait to tell Admiral Grant his judgement was off due to his age, and that the time to retire was now.

Douglas decidedly did not like this. Beyond the fact that they were going in virtually blind, which was against the way Enforcers (or Starfleet for that matter) normally did things, he had a bad feeling that they were flying straight into a carefully-laid trap. He did not have any idea whose trap it was, but all of his trained instincts were screaming at him that it was a trap.

His eyes flicked from his board to the Marine colonel, then to the Executive Officer, then back to his console. No help from either of them. The colonel was as unreadable as Douglas himself must be to anyone who did not know him, shrouded as his expression was in the Enforcer Neutrality. The Executive Officer was wearing her best imitation of a Vulcan. Note to self: Never play poker with her. And that left him with his own thoughts on the subject, concerned as they were.

He did another check of the Security Systems of the Triumphant just to be triply sure that nothing would go pear-shaped because of something he had overlooked. It was all in order. So he sent out a text command for his teams to report in on their status to be certain that everyone was where they were supposed to be and ready and alert. As they all answered his order, he relaxed just the tiniest fraction, secure in his own people and his preparedness... and theirs.